What Do You Think of My Child's Chances?

Hello there. My child is applying for 9th Grade.

I know I will find out on Mar 10th but would be interesting to hear from those who went through the process before us.

Stats:
GPA: 3.96/4.00
SSAT: 99% (2370)
Great Interviews for all schools
Great ECs - Leadership roles
Great Rec Letters
Great Personal Essays
Currently at a Jr. Boarding School in the US (so experienced independence away from home, self-advocacy, resilience/grit, optimism, ready for senior boarding, etc)

-NOT a legacy nor a recruited athlete

Targeted Schools:
Exeter
Andover
St. Paul’s
Groton
Lawrenceville
Hotchkiss
Choate

What are the ECs specifically? Full pay? Any performance arts experience? At those schools 4.0s, 90th + SSATs, and solid recommendations and essays are standard to almost all applications. Outside of jr boarding school, as described nothing stands out so more detail is needed.

This is a solid start, I’m not trying to sound insulting or discouraging.

Thanks.

EC:

Chief officer of school debate team
School Band (highest level)
Jazz Band (highest level) - invite only ensemble
Community Service Club committee Member
Peer Math Tutor
School Newspaper Editor
Drama - in two school dramas (not the lead role, however)
MUN
Bastketball, Lacrosse and Cross Country

Difficult to pack on ECs while at jr boarding school full-time apart from what is offered at the school.

Full pay

If you worked with the placement counselor at your JBS to come up with that list, you are probably fine. They have a vested interest in seeing their students have a good place to go as they leave JBS and tend to know the lay of the land. (And I am guessing that you may have a Plan B if this doesn’t work.)

There is nothing that you have disclosed that would be a red flag that would keep your child from being accepted. Several of those schools are among the larger ones, so that helps as well.

I’d guess you will have an option among those.

That is solid across the board. If these schools average about 20% admission, your child is likely to find a home on M10. There may be disappointment if the heart is set on a school or two because it is unlikely to be an acceptance sweep, but there are no issues that I can see.

I bet you will be fine as JR BSs have very good counselors, but sort of surprised they did not have you put even one less competitive BS on the list that would be more of a sure thing. But assuming you are at a place like Eaglebrook they seem to have strong connections to several of the schools on the list (maybe even all of them), so they probably already have you placed. Have you talked to the counselor recently?

Plan B: Attend a great public school…

Would a counselor at a major JBS already know at the end of Jan/early Feb because they have excellent working relationship with many of the BS AOs? Wow!

You’ll have great options on March 10 given your child has already excelled inside and outside the classroom at a boarding school.

A question out of curiosity – was this the full list that the JBS suggested? Or was the net wider and you decided to make the LPS the plan B? I am purely interested in the application strategies of folks who are in the professional BS business. (If you don’t feel like answering to protect privacy, totally OK too.)

We were asked to apply to some safety schools. We complied.

Which of the schools on your list of seven are considered “safeties”?

What is the recommended number of schools that JBS staff suggest each family apply to? How many schools do most families apply to?

Most families apply btwn 5-8.

OP- Is your child currently a VI Former ( who chose to apply to SS early and not graduate with their JBS Class ) or VII Former graduating with their Class?

I’m also trying to see the wisdom or strategy for repeating III Form at a Secondary School ( with those stats ) if the child isn’t a VI Former or an athlete or a legacy hoping for die hard status.

Also - which School is considered the " safety " on your list?

@PhotographerMom - My DC is currently in the 9th grade and is applying for 9th grade at BS (i.e., will be repeating the 9th grade).

We understand the Pros and Cons for repeating the 9th grade.

PROS: DC is more mature, ready for BS, gets the full 4 year experience at BS, ready to compete academically and athletically, etc.

CONS: Costs more money and can’t carry over the stellar GPA earned in 9th grade in JBS if going straight to the 10th grade in BS (i.e., must rely on the new grades earned as a 9th grader at BS which could be graded much harsher compared to JBS 9th grade, etc).

None of the 7 schools in my OP is a “safety” school. If DC doesn’t get into any one of the 7, then the fall back will be a local public school. Although I am OK to pay in full for certain schools, we just don’t see the value for money for our DC at “safety” schools.

Got it. So in other words- that’s your complete go big or stay home list.

The 5-8 school recommendation from a JBS SS Placement Office caught my eye ( I’m a JBS alum/ 3X former JBS parent ) because I know that’s not something they would tell a family or agree to without a parent signing off or knowing that there’s viable option at home.

All the best and good luck M10!

I know we never say this on CC but I can see some of those schools being “safeties” really meaning “very likely admit” for a kid from a “top” JBS. Those counselors are serious about getting kids into good schools and they have good working relationships with the AOs. The parents I know at our school, whose kids went to JBS, had a different and less angsty process.

That list would obviously (I hope it’s obvious) not apply to any other kid unless kid had a major hook.

As a full pay student coming from junior boarding school with an outstanding SSAT score & excellent grades and multiple ECs & strong recs, your son should expect multiple acceptances.

An unmentioned advantage of applying to 9th grade from 9th grade is the boost in his SSAT score.

If you feel that a couple of schools on your son’s list are safeties, then make application to the 10th grade for those schools.

P.S. If applying to Groton as a repeat 9th grade student, is your son okay with the open dorm barracks style housing used for 8th & 9th grade students ? (Assuming that Groton still houses 8th & 9th grade students in that open dorm.)

Also, if applying as a 10th grader, do you know what his SSAT score would be ?

Let’s not get carried away. I would NOT call the 9th grade dorms “barracks” style. Yes they have walls that don’t quite go to the ceiling but they do have doors and those rooms are some of the nicest dorms on campus IMO. The upper school rooms are smaller and not nearly as nice. I have seen them referred to 3/4 walls but that seems a misnomer as you’d have to be a giant to see over the wall. You definitely have more privacy in those 9th grade rooms than in many upper class dorms at any school on that list because of the way the room is actually laid out.

Just a quick note for future readers on the Groton dorms. Agree with you @one1ofeach. Groton 9th grade dorms were maybe my DD favorite of all schools we saw.